


How Sweet It Is

by Daretodream66



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Boys In Love, Bucky is a little shit, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Dorks in Love, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Ice Cream, Love at First Sight, Lust at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, steve has a crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25905625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daretodream66/pseuds/Daretodream66
Summary: Steve watches Bucky eat ice cream and stuff happens.And now there's a second chapter because I thought what the hell.The Avengers find out about Bucky.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 23
Kudos: 286





	1. Chapter 1

The man doesn’t realize that he has an audience. The audience doesn’t realize that he’s staring in a way that isn’t…proper. Steve Rogers is a gentleman and always has been. He opens doors not because he’s telling his female counterparts that they can’t do it themselves, but because his Ma would tan his hide if he didn’t. He watches his language in front of others, not because he’s a prude, but because he was taught that crude language wasn’t appropriate for company. But the guy sitting on the bench across the way, minding his own business, is eating an ice cream cone like he’s making love to it and Steve just can’t keep his eyes in his skull. Thank god he’s wearing sunglasses or this could get really awkward.

The man doesn’t know that Steve’s watching him. He’s too busy watching the ducks on the pond. Steve whimpers to himself when the guy licks up the side of the ice cream and swirls his tongue over the top. Steve quickly looks around to make sure that no one heard the ridiculous noise that just came out of him. So, man out of time, Steven G. Rogers, just found himself insanely attracted to a man and not just any man. This guy looks like sunshine and _rainbows_ and the irony of _that_ does not pass over Steve’s head.

The man finishes his ice cream and gets up to leave. Steve wants to follow, but that would, in fact, make him a creep. Oddly, this new revelation doesn’t send Steve into a tailspin of self-doubt, oh no, it makes him want to follow the man even more. When he’s out of sight, Steve gets up, sighing deeply with the knowledge that he’ll never see the guy again. All the way back to the Tower, Steve thinks about the guys wavy hair that’s brown, but not just brown, he thinks about the dimple in his chin under the scruff of a few days without shaving, he thinks about those cheekbones that are sharp, but with a gentle curve into lips that…

Jesus, Steve suddenly understand love/lust a first sight.

He’s almost completely silent through dinner that night and everyone notices. They try to draw him out, but have learned that sometimes their Captain gets lost in his head. Little do they know that he’s thinking about a beautiful man from the park that should be stopped, for everyone’s sanity, from eating ice cream.

He returns to the park the following day, around the same time and low and behold the beautiful man is there again and wouldn’t you know it, he’s eating another ice cream cone. Steve’s doomed. Sitting on the bench opposite the man again, Steve turns his head just slightly away and covertly watches the man through his sunglasses again. He watches as that tongue swipes over the ice cream, licking up the side of the cone to catch a drip, closes his lips over the top scoop. Yeah, Steve’s about ready to faint.

 _This_ is madness.

The man gets up and leaves and Steve watches him walk away in a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top. It did not go unnoticed by the super soldier that Mr. Beautiful Man’s tank had a pride flag on the front. If he wasn’t in a public park, Steve would lay down on the bench and try to gather enough of his higher functions to walk back to the Tower. But he has no high functions right now, they all left with the last bite of strawberry ice cream.

The next day he’s back on the bench again, just waiting. Will he show? Or will Steve be sitting here just hoping? But there he is, but today he’s carrying two cones. If Steve has to sit and watch this guy eat two ice cream cones, he just may have a stroke, but instead, the man sits down next to Steve and offers him the second cone. He grins over at the blond. “I hope you like strawberry.”

Steve nods dumbly and just watches the guy go to town on his cone. Swallowing around a knot in his throat, Steve’s sure he’s going to have a stroke anyway. The way Mr. Beautiful Man is eating the cone is just as…lewd as the last two days. The ice cream in Steve’s hand his melting all down the side of the cone, but he can’t take his eyes off this guy. Finally, he leans in to take a lick and the top scoop falls to the ground. “AW…shit!”

The guy snorts and turns to lean an arm across the back of the bench. “You’re letting all that good ice cream go to waste.”

And then…then, Steve opens his mouth and does not give it permission to release the following words. “Well, I could focus on mine if you weren’t making love to yours.” Hanging his head, he starts to get up and just walk away. It’s better for everyone involved if he doesn’t stick around.

A hand reaches out and grabs him by the wrist, tugging him back down on the bench. The guy pushes his sunglasses up onto his head and Steve forgets how to breathe. Up to this point, Steve could have written it off as a lust situation, but those eyes, the color of an iridescent blue topaz are smiling at him. “So, the last two days you _have_ been watching me.” He offers his hand. “I’m James Barnes, but my friends call me Bucky.”

Steve opens and closes his mouth a few times before he can get the words out. “I’m Steve…Steve Rogers.”

That tongue comes out again and swirls around the ice cream and Steve’s ready to give just about anything to be that ice cream cone. “Since your cone went to waste, why don’t we go get more and eat it at your place?”

Later that night, Tony stumbles into the kitchen not expecting to find Captain America feeding another man ice cream. The stranger is sitting on the counter with Steve Rogers between his legs. Both men are grinning and if Tony isn’t mistaken, the guy on his counter has multiple hickeys up and down his neck. Cap feeds the guy another spoonful and then chases it with his own tongue down the guy’s throat. “You keep kissing me like that and we’ll have to go back to bed.”

The deep throaty chuckle from Iron Man’s teammate is new and definitely not appropriate for company. “I can get behind that idea. We could take the ice cream with us.”

Tony backs out of the kitchen quietly and stands in the shadows to watch. Steve comes out, carrying the man like a koala while this stranger holds the ice cream. He’s snuggled into Steve’s neck, laying kisses anywhere he can reach. “So, is this just about sex to you or can I take you on a date?”

Steve barks a laugh. “I plan on dating you for a very long time, Mr. Barnes. In fact, you’ll be lucky if I don’t move you in here tomorrow afternoon.”

“Why tomorrow afternoon?” The lift doors open and Steve steps in.

“Because tomorrow morning, I’m going to be busy making you breakfast.”


	2. Sweet Nothin's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers find out about Bucky.

Tony honestly, doesn’t know what to do. After seeing what was in the kitchen _that_ night, he moves through the Tower mumbling to himself, even weeks later. He’s convinced that he must have been too tired and finally started hallucinating. That is, until he walks into the theater room, where he’s sure that he left the ¾ inch 12 point combination wrench. He’s not entirely sure how it happened, just that it’s the last place he remembers having it. 

But tonight is not going to be the night he retrieves it because the movie screen is going with some old black and white and Cap and _that_ man, the one from the kitchen, are cuddled up in one of the lounge recliners. They just seem to be kissing, but then Cap’s head disappears under the blanket they’re sharing. “Nope! I do not need to see this.” Tony quickly scurries away and hopes that there’s such a thing as brain bleach. If not, he’ll invent it.

The next time to two are seen, it’s by Clint. At first he thinks that something’s wrong because Cap is moving at top speed down one of the hallways. He’s about to join him as backup when there’s a squeal further down the hallway and another man, one that Clint’s never seen, wearing nothing but boxers, is bolting away from Cap. 

Cap is giggling.

Clint isn’t sure that’s something that Cap should do and yet, he is. Catching the other man around the waist, Cap swings him up into his arms and heads back the way he came. The unknown man, who Clint has to admit is sinfully attractive, is kissing Cap’s neck and whispering things that make his fearless leader blush. As they disappear back into the lift, Clint sits back against the side of the vent he’s currently in. “Uh…well that’s new.”

Bruce is sure that Tony’s losing his mind because there’s no way that Cap has a male ‘friend’ and everyone in the Tower is unaware. That is until he walks into the kitchen early one morning, before the sun is even up, and finds Cap cooking what looks to be French toast and a man, that Bruce doesn’t know is sitting on the counter next to the stove. Leaning over, the brunet man steals a kiss and Cap completely loses focus on the food. Pulling back the strange man, grins. “You’re going to burn our breakfast.”

Cap looks back at the stove and Bruce can see the smile of complete and utter joy. “Well, if you wouldn’t distract me it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Now where’s the fun in that, Stevie.” Bruce freezes because ‘Stevie?’ Backing out of the kitchen he goes to find Tony. Either they’re both hallucinating or Cap has a boyfriend.

Being in the Tower after visiting Asgard is settling for Thor. He loves his planet and his family, but there are always expectations. Here, on Earth and more precisely, the Tower, Thor just gets to relax and be himself and not the future King of Asgard. He sees Cap come out of the lift with a man in his arms that Thor doesn’t know. The man is laughing and requesting that Cap release him. “Captain, are you in need of assistance?”

Cap turns, grinning in a way that Thor doesn’t ever remember seeing. Granted, he doesn’t know his Captain all that well, but he’s sure he would have remembered seeing that smile. The man in his arms, jumps down, gaping at Thor. “Holy Shit! You’re Thor!”

The Captain comes up behind him, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist. “Should I be jealous?” 

The brunet man leans his weight into the embrace and leans up to kiss the Captain’s cheek. “Never, but…I mean…it’s Thor, Stevie.”

Thor bows low to them both, smiling. “I am indeed. And you are?”

The man looks up at Steve, questioning. “Thor, this is James Barnes, my boyfriend.” The other man beams and offers his hand.

Thor takes it excitedly. “Ah, this is good news. Our Captain deserves the love of a good shield-mate.”

“Call me Bucky. All of my friends do.” Thor shakes the hand enthusiastically.

“It is quite an honor to meet you, Bucky.” Thor turns, calling over his shoulder. “Be well, my friends.”

“That’s the first time you’ve introduced me as your boyfriend.” Bucky turns in Steve’s arms, wrapping his arms around the blond’s neck.

Steve walks him backwards until his back hits the wall. “Is that a problem?”

Bucky winks up at him. “I think we need some ice cream.” Bucky takes off down the hall towards Steve’s apartment with Steve hot on his heels.

Natasha returns to the Tower after months away on a mission. Instead of looking put together, as she usually does, she looks like she needs to sleep for three weeks. It’s nearly three in the morning and she wants to grab something to eat and then go and commune with her bed. Stepping onto the communal floor, the balcony doors are open. Going into the kitchen, she grabs the first thing her hand lands on in the fridge, which appears to be and hopefully is, come leftover Chinese.

When she starts for the lift, she hears voices on the balcony. More than likely it’s Tony, but just to be sure she steps quietly over. She may have to hustle him off to bed depending on how many days he’s been without sleep. What she finds instead makes her almost drop her food. Captain America is standing at the edge of the balcony, kneeling in front of another man who has his hands over his mouth.

“It’s only been a few months, but in my very long life, I’ve never been as happy as I am with you. I want to wake up every day with you, grow old with you, and always be blessed to have you look at me the way you do. I love you, Bucky. More than I thought was possible. Marry me?” Cap is tearing up with hopeful anticipation in his eyes.

The other man is crying with tears streaming down his face. He’s nodding furiously because he doesn’t seem to be able to talk. Cap stands and slides a ring on his finger and kisses it with reverence. Gathering the man into his arms, Cap kisses him fiercely. “I love you so damn much.” Looking down at his hand, Bucky looks up adoringly. “It’s so beautiful.”

Natasha looks around trying to figure out who’s in on this joke because that’s what it has to be. There’s no way that Steve Rogers is gay and she didn’t know it. Backing away slowly, she makes it to the lift. “JARVIS, how long has that been going on?”

‘I assume you are speaking of the Captain and Mr. Barnes?’

“Yes, I am.” She looks up at the ceiling. “I mean…how…when…”

‘Agent Romanov, Captain Rogers began seeing Mr. Barnes nearly five months ago.’

This time she does drop the food. They started seeing each other before she left on the mission and she didn’t even notice. “That’s it, I’m losing my touch.”

Steve wakes the next morning, raising up on his elbows. He can tell that it’s later than he normally sleeps, but after last night, he was exhausted. Looking over to his left, Bucky is still asleep, one of his muscled legs kicked outside the cover, bent at the knee. One arm is over his head, the other across his stomach. The sheet pools low on his abdomen. His hair is in disarray on the pillow and he breathing is steady. 

A day at the park, watching a guy eat ice cream, turned into this. And this is good. And this is all for Steve. He starts to lean over to lay a gentle kiss to Bucky’s lips when the bedroom door swings open and the entire team is standing there. Bucky jerks awake and Steve has enough presence of mind to make sure they’re both covered. “Stevie, what the fuck?”

Tony, looking annoyed, steps into the room first. “Yes Stevie, what the fuck?”

Thor barrels into the room, looking apologetic. “My friend, I did try to keep them out, but when determined, the Avengers are a force to be reckoned with.”

“I don’t blame you, Thor.” Bucky settles back into the blankets and pillows, but seems to be trying to hide behind Steve. Looking at the rest of the team, Steve doesn’t hide his immense displeasure. “Someone want to tell me what this is all about?”

Natasha, eases around Tony. “Did you or did you not get engaged last night?”

Steve feels Bucky kissing his back, causing the super soldier to go blank. He knows that Natasha asked him something, but Bucky’s lips on his skin is very, very distracting. Then he feels the other man bite down. “AH…what…engaged…yeah, we got engaged last night…or this morning.” Bucky doesn’t come out from behind Steve, but lifts his hand up so they can all see the ring. Steve goes from aroused to sappy in a matter of seconds. “Yeah, we did.” He turns, pulling Bucky and the blankets because no one gets to see all of Bucky, into his lap. “We did get engaged.”

Wrapped in the blankets, Bucky turns so he’s facing Steve. “Anyone have an issue with that?” Steve just grins and kisses him.

“Issue…NO…confused…YES!” The men in the bed break apart and look up at Tony. “Who are you?”

Bucky turns as much as Steve will allow and offers his hand. “I’m James Barnes, but I guess you can call me Bucky.”

Tony throws his arms up and heads to the door. “Get dressed so we can do some kind of celebration breakfast or…whatever!”

Bucky snorts and buries his face in Steve neck. Steve looks up at the rest of them and everyone seems to be smiling. And like he’s just noticed the red-head because Bucky is continuing to be very distracting, he smiles warmly. “Hey Nat, you’re back.”

There’s a snort from his neck and a huff from Black Widow. “Nice of you to notice, Rogers.” The rest of them head for the door. “And don’t think there isn’t going to be hell to pay for this gay thing.”

As she disappears around the corner, Steve yells after her. “I’m bi-sexual actually.” The last thing he sees is her middle finger disappearing around the door.


End file.
